When Formula 1 almost raced in the Soviet Union

Formula 1 has always touted itself as a global sport. Yet, it took until 2014 for it to reach the Russian Federation...but it was almost much sooner than that. Back in the 60s and 80s, there were some attempts to bring the Grand Prix circus to the Soviet Union. Yet, nothing happened. In this episode, I seek to explain what happened. Enjoy the video, comrades ;)
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DISCLAIMER: This video is not intended for persons 13 years or under. Special mention to all the original sources of certain clips used in my videos. Please do check out their content for the full videos.
Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. There are certain scenes from the Formula 1 calendar where race footage is used. All those rights are property of FOM. Other photos and news elements are used solely for the purpose of assisting the original content illuminate a more in depth story
#F1 #Formula1 #SovietUnion

[@ton_of_rocks]

"I just outlined Mikhail Gorbachev's birthmark" I'm done lmao

[@0livend0se]

me too man

[@michaelmeffert5722]

Still better than the Sochi track

[@dandirasuandar2599]

@@michaelmeffert5722 but it will be 14 km

[@JoshuaC923]

Laughed myself silly in the middle of the night 🤣🤣🤣 well played sir

[@alexandersmith7777]

That look cool though

[@Aldas001]

I'd love to see an American team draped with an Oligarchs Russian livery race on a Soviet Union Grand Prix circuit.

[@musicman0329]

We'd love*

[@AllThingsRacing]

Oh boy how this one aged

[@nathanevans4254]

Mazespin and USSRacing'll take note

[@avenger398]

Isn't your dream already taking shape in the form of Haas and Maze-spin/Uralkali?

[@MrLeSa95]

You will be able to see this in sochi with haas

[@anothersmile]

just imagine if a soviet driver won a grand prix and the anthem played, it would be very legendary

[@ncormontagne]

Well, the russian anthem is actually the same. So... Yeah, no. I'm not sure I want Mazepin to win a race. Yet it could be fun hearing this anthem... I don't know anymore...

[@badgoogle9938]

@@ncormontagne considering the russian ban, are they allowed to play the national anthem for a win?

[@BOABModels]

@@badgoogle9938 nope, you're right. They aren't.

[@goki6548]

**our** driver won

[@mayhare55555]

Soyuz

[@DennyDeliversYT]

Here to see all the “It’s not your Grand Prix... *Its OUR Grand Prix”* comments

[@HalfEliteRacing]

DennyDelivers! I keep forgetting you watch F1

[@Lol-pb9bx]

Denny should go to Russia to look for a championship to share.

[@marcuswardle2425]

OUR WORLD

[@wolfie2847]

Our team ;)

[@Steeldemon44428]

Lets go hamilin

[@RACECAR]

I now have an unusual desire to see Daniil Kyvat and Sergei Sirotkin doing the Cossack dance together for 10 seconds before the hardbass abruptly kicks in. No reason...

[@Geronimo7thson]

Then it ends with them two doing the slavi boi stance

[@haachama-chama7179]

And then Mazepin came in the hardest with daddy's cash

[@Ibol406]

WE

[@jcrl4671]

My favourite OurTube channel out there

[@gawdpromaxultra703]

This is my most fav comment lol

[@jcrl4671]

@Ice Bear you beat me to it

[@prshntydv14]

@@jcrl4671 *us to it

[@jcrl4671]

@@prshntydv14 our bad, comrade

[@sohambelge8318]

Our*

[@Tomani02]

"I'm defecting to the Soviet Union" - The Boss, 1964.

[@ivailok3376]

I love your plans for "improving" the Sochi circuit

[@musicman0329]

Our plans*

[@sheeple04]

And then, if the Russians really want a Grand Prix still, just... Igora Drive is the better track

[@EgorKaskader]

@@sheeple04 Well, guess why that was built to begin with. That, and Moscow Raceway.

[@Ibol406]

We OUR

[@tashakay1734]

No joke but i think the Birth mark shape track actually looked good.

[@jaybiegs]

Facts

[@dangerouscookie]

Yo same

[@warailawildrunner5300]

It'd be better than sochi

[@ganapathysubramanian2814]

Ive never clicked so fast for #ourrace

[@Red-dz6ix]

All this highlighting the long standing power of Bernie Ecclestone in F1 makes me want a video about how he came to be in the position he has.

[@jannadrielcervo7753]

It all started with the Brabham BT50 Fan Car. He used it as a wild card, so most of the teams will bow to him. Shame I really wanted to know what if Eccleston didn't care about politics, and let the fan car do what it can do for the whole season.

[@bobcatracer]

I’d say first, but Hamilton got it due to complicated track limits.

[@yellowflag9945]

Да 👏

[@ross_boss]

Underrated comment

[@900108Chale]

BEST Comment!

[@SladesShitboxGarage]

Да

[@freakysquirrel7218]

We need this pinned! bravo sir

[@oliveranscombe7109]

At the start when he said “and why did it all fall apart” I was like the Soviet Union or the track? 🤔🤣

[@nathanielkosbab4153]

Good question

[@Reinhard_Erlik]

Both

[@yakovkazinets7004]

The exchange rate at the time was 1 USD to 0.900 Soviet Rubles. 40 Million Rubles became about 44.4 million USD. That's 1964 money. Adjusted for inflation it's about $375 Million USD. So not $4 million USD.

[@0605194]

yeah, I had the same idea. However, your source is probably Wikipedia. Their source for historical exchange rate is the archive of “Central Bank of Russia” which probably was the Soviet bank at the time. It is likely that the rate was subject to propaganda and not realistic.

[@imokin86]

@@0605194 exactly, the rate was not realistic. But it was official, everything else was black market and it's now very hard to verify.

[@doylerudolph7965]

But muh USSR poverty 🙄

[@localhobo5362]

@@doylerudolph7965 USSR were rich af, but people were poor af. So yeah.

[@alexnaismith351]

The soviet ruble was a closed currency though

[@SaraSpruce]

Apparently they were also upgrading the Pirita circuit in Soviet Estonia in the mid-1980s with a plan to host a Soviet Grand Prix there starting in about 1992, but that plan fell apart with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

[@toetagjeee]

And Piritia circuit is ... DEAD. Some films regarding that if you are interested.

[@aaronanish7400]

the jokes are getting better josh, u taking classes on stand-up comedy or smthng

[@simoneburini4036]

SkIlLsHaRe

[@WigsyDoesSimRacing]

Don’t kiss arse

[@Lol-pb9bx]

@@WigsyDoesSimRacing please shut

[@joshpoole7754]

You could tell great jokes by using skillshare

[@german_doggy7314]

4:50

[@jondash2939]

I would imagine if formula 1 raced in soviet union and bernie ecclestone got asked questions he would have just said what's wrong with the soviet Union

[@dukeman8481]

If you are going to criticize Bernie for that, we are racing at Saudi Arabia this year. F1 is about the money, don't pretend it's so virtuous with all the virtue signaling.

[@saberracer026]

I can actually picture Bernie saying that though.

[@oscarshen6855]

Bernie is never a good guy but what I like about him is he never cares about politic and the European centric view, which is coming back when F1 trying to race anywhere but Europe. Judging everyone with their taste of "human right" is just a new form of discrimination and supermacism. Sport are for uniting people, not dividing them, if you can't get over that self centric view don't brand yourself as a globle sport.

[@NotSteveCook]

It was a Cold War strategy.

[@PyroBun_2844]

All Soviet Union jokes aside, just imagine the backlash f1 would’ve gotten if this went ahead.

[@biauas]

just how much backlash they get now due to race in saudi? money talks unfortunately

[@jordza2k11]

just look at the backlash they got from having South African GP in apartheid

[@user-mx1fq6qm6i]

@@biauas the backlash only exists because the track is shit

[@user-mx1fq6qm6i]

Everybody would love it because memes

[@donniedial3014]

@@user-mx1fq6qm6i maybe now, but back then memes about the Soviet Union didn't exist.

[@vacsad]

You forgot to mention that instead a soviet GP, the first F1 race behind the iron curtain went to the Hungaroring.

[@mattdickie4696]

4:23 it gets a mention

[@musketeer5023]

Fun Fact: 1986 Hungarian Grand Prix wasn't the first grand prix beyond the iron curtain. The first one was 1949 Czechoslovakian Grand Prix which was won by Peter Whitehead on Ferrari.

[@Patrik0183]

In fact, Soviet GP almost was in the calendar, but Brezhnev died before he could sign the contract that the F1 race would have taken place in the Estonian SSR in Pirita circuit beacause the contract was ready between Estonia SSR and Soviet Union to hold the race in Pirita circuit. And race name would have been USSR GP.

[@Speeder76]

Viewer number five of this video! I never clickd so fast in my life... About the issue: I knew about the proposals of 1981, but I remember reading rumours about a Soviet Grand Prix in 1988, with a design of a circuit a bit far of Moscow and Leningrad (at the time). It was in a place near Riga, on what's now Latvia. So, even after the Hungarian GP, Bernie wanted a Formula 1 race in the land of the Soviets. Even he thought of a Yugoslavian GP in what is now Rijeka, in Croatia, on the same circuit that had the MotoGP at the time. So, the other side of the Iron Curtain was always an obsession for Mr Shortie, the then Brabham owner...

[@_Dimon_]

Never knew about Riga. Did they plan to race on the existing Bikernieki track or wanted to build a new one?

[@Speeder76]

@@_Dimon_ I saw a drawing of the proposed track. I think it would have to be new, like what happened in Budapest. It even have a overlapping, like what exists in Suzuka.

[@Rowdy_D70]

If you win a race in the Soviet Union, it isn’t your win, it’s OUR win

[@Lol-pb9bx]

Kyle Busch knows better than to share his wins

[@PiousMoltar]

In Soviet Union, race wins you.

[@zenokada2278]

Sounds like josh watched part of oversimplified Cold War

[@mikesuarez9615]

I haven’t even watched the whole video and I know I am going to love it

[@almightypumpkin]

Josh Revell: *stereotype-based jokes, plus a joke about bombing Sochi* also Josh Revell: be respectful! Maybe start with yourself for once. :)

[@achintyaaatreya]

Penalty in F1-5 seconds Penalty in USSR-shot dead.

[@f1videosforf1fans99]

Kvyat was such a good guy, and in a good day was a talented and fast driver... I miss him, bassicaly because of the new russian driver I don't know why I'm talking about this now

[@PG-20]

He's with Alpine right now so there is hope for him yet

[@f1videosforf1fans99]

@@PG-20 i hope so

[@SladesShitboxGarage]

@@f1videosforf1fans99 he is honestly better than Ocon

[@Geronimo7thson]

@@SladesShitboxGarage That’s for damn sure hahah

[@sokudo4143]

I don't exactly remember what year it was but there was also planning to hold a race in the current day Estonia which was at the time under the USSR

[@PiousMoltar]

Interesting!

[@localhobo5362]

I think this Estonian track doesnt exist anymore? Right?

[@sokudo4143]

@@localhobo5362 It was a street circuit that was used for motorcycle races, but currently it's not in use

[@localhobo5362]

@@sokudo4143 okey, thanks

[@shvalovpavel9243]

In fact, between, 1960 and 1976 there was even Soviet Union Formula-One Chapionship. With such a high competiotion level, that in 1970 it was won at De Sanctis-Ford Cosworth Formula 3 car

[@nicolastartaras]

Could you maybe make a video about the Greek gp and how it was supposed to happen

[@yellowflag9945]

There was a Greek gp? Tell me more josh

[@nicolastartaras]

@@yellowflag9945 there was supposed to be one a while back

[@yellowflag9945]

@@nicolastartaras cool

[@900108Chale]

There was supposed to be a GP in most of the western developed world anyway. Just saying that most may not be worth covering at all. Tons of self called sport promoters trying to make some quick $$$ by promoting such events. Haven't heard of any as of late, but up until the mid 2000s those scammers abounded everywhere.

[@Georgy2001]

Νομίζω απλά σαν ιδέα είχε μείνει αυτό και πολυ στο γενικό-για το πως θα μπορούσε να αξιοποιηθεί το Ελληνικό, αλλά μέχρι εκεί..

[@nemesisknight5017]

Josh!!!!!! You are like one of the main reasons I'm into F1 because you are kiwi and I'm Aussie and it's good to have fans close to home

[@girlwithaguitar24]

Man, Caesar's Palace must have taken inspiration from that Soviet F1 track draft :P

[@RaianF1]

Came here expecting hardbass and was not disappointed. Great video Josh.

[@sbinnala14]

Nobody: Josh: LETS RACE IN FOCKING SOVIET UNION

[@markangelocalica1478]

I think even Leonid Brezhnev will hate the Current Track in Sochi (most possibly the GODDAMMIT TURN 2)

[@900108Chale]

*Guys Guys Guys!* Before you go on to mention that particular race once planned close to your hometown... *Since Always has there been plans to "host races" almost everywhere in the western developed world.* Maybe that's the video Josh should make: *"F1 Scammers promoting a "new" Circuit or Race."* And yes many have gotten away with millions.

[@BogLoud]

Dude. Your Videos Are Literally So Cool

[@musicman0329]

Our videos*

[@noobloot97]

Now you should make a video of how the Hungarian GP was born

[@tohotom7688]

What's the deal with Daniil Kvyat? video for next?

[@samthomas6045]

That Bottas throwaway line was next level savage.

[@robertharrington703]

Josh: "Why did it fall apart?" Me: *The race or the USSR*

[@marcelf0252]

*WE LOVE THIS VIDEO, COMRADE!*

[@totalmadnesman]

Well they raced in the Hungaroring back in the 80s and 90s I guess. Which was basically part of the soviet union back then.

[@PG-20]

Lmao if that was now, imagine the amount of twitter hate they'd get, and all those "woke" people complaining about the Saudi GP as well.

[@totalmadnesman]

@Ice Bear Are you sure about that m8? xDDD

[@totalmadnesman]

@@PG-20 A yo, I am not woke, I just hate Arabs.

[@stepladder3257]

@@totalmadnesman then doesn’t that make you racist?? Keep in mind i’m not trying to be woke

[@stepladder3257]

@@PG-20 idk how the hell F1 fans became woke it just happened when the 2020 season started

[@jcrl4671]

The track concept look truly better than Sochi

[@ForeverF1]

This video was great, *comrade*

[@TurbosTantrums]

There were actually 4 US Grands Prix on the 1983 calendar originally - Long Beach, Detroit, New York and Caesar's Palace - but as well as NY falling through, Caesar's Palace were trying to get out of the loss-making deal for much of the season.

[@tbr-55master56]

Talking about Russian GP, I really think that Moscow Raceway is better than Sochi Autodrom to host a GP, and the circuit has Tier 1 by FIA

[@ted_grimm]

Anything will be better the Sochi

[@continentalrcinglg]

In December 1998, they announced plans for a Russian GP to take place by 2002 in Tula, but those plans never got beyond, well, planning.

[@gawdpromaxultra703]

It was our Grand Prix

[@Rappini_]

Please make a video about the next Brazilian Hope in F1,we haven't had a full pilot since 2017 with the departure of Massa

[@bengiles5691]

josh: ‘why did it fall apart’ me: you’d have to ask Gorbachev

[@UbeRNooB24]

Keep it cheeki breeki!!

[@KnightBernabeu]

One day we'll have a North Korean Grand Prix and Sir Lewis will be blessed by the best fans there

[@AudreyH48]

To be honest, I think the venue of Sochi looks really nice. I also think that the 2022 cars will have a much better time around places like Sochi and could very well create some great racing.

[@SladesShitboxGarage]

The problem with Sochi is the dirty air affect.

[@dfa.18]

Aged like milk

[@matthewpayne_racing]

I’m a history nerd. Thanks for including a video where USSR of Mazepin in your channel. lol : D

[@zenokada2278]

When while watching this you get a history notification about the Soviet Union

[@CoolGuyKimiR]

"poverty" sure. every citizen having free house and farm where they can live as long as they worked for their country is called poverty. anyway man nice video love ya channel

[@OzKittyboi]

Considering recent news with Miami, ever thought of doing a video based on that particular town?

[@lambda6564]

Seeing how F1 always follows money before anything else, I think a third race in the former USSR is not that unthinkable. I am sure that some central asian autocrat will have the idea for a gp someday, just like azerbaijan and russia did to boost tourism and sportswash their country.

[@RedneckSwede]

Yes, fixing the Sochi "Racetrack" with a tsar bomba. My goodness, you genius.

[@samiraperi467]

I find that currency conversion dubious. Back then rubles were worth >1 USD. And did you say "slav of the automobile" about Brezhnev? :D

[@9kaart]

There were some talks about staging a race in Ukraine in the early 2010s

[@raptor1672]

So that’s why Putin invaded?

[@tiffanyr9975]

omg the “captions” of the opening credits. Lovely touch

[@bilboblib]

Big fan of the historical F1 content and found this video very amusing. Keep up the great work Josh 👍

[@imokin86]

Well done pronouncing Russian names! I'd switch "poverty" for something like bureaucracy though. The USSR wasn't an earthly paradise, but people were not extremely poor, not in '82. The overall consumption levels were much lower, but very few people lived in abject poverty.

[@alefilmes100]

creating a track out of Gorbachov's headmark was legendary

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

would make sense that if anyone did it Brezhnev would... the USSR was big on truck racing and Rally stages though... so this was not what car racing was like (as a sport) for most soviets. there was a stable car-racing fandom, but the big western named they knew were guys like Subaru... not the big Formula teams. interestedly Tsarist Russia did have an early version of F1 in it, but that's another story

[@user-dt8fi1ee7b]

There's really were plan to host Soviet GP in 1988 - 1991 and Russian GPs on 1992 - 2006 on Neva Ring. FIA graded the track with Grade 1. But because of some problems all GPs were removed from lists. Then the football stadium in front of the track has rebranded and expanded, so, track is now abandoned and used as a public road only

[@gabem.5242]

So, we could've seen the definite baptism of fire for Soviet Motorsport on the international stage (a discipline that had an enormous following in the USSR, as it was not seen as "anti-communist" because its efforts could be used for production cars), on a great track... and now we have Nikita Mazeshunt and the Sochi vomit. It's not fair, when you look at it.

[@m.sydneyvern2260]

Well if you all hate Sochi there have been rumours of moving the Russian GP to the Moscow Raceway or Igora Drive an FIA grade1 4.086km motorsport complex 54 kilometers away from Saint Petersburg it hosts DTM and RallyCross races with a total of 16 corners and seventeen meters in elevation changes now thats an F1 worthy track!

[@mslo7312]

Weeeellllllll

[@yellowflag9945]

*we* have all waited for *our* video

[@axol1238]

4:51 This really got me 😂😂😂

[@franklinalastairanthony638]

This channelis Underrated !!!

[@filipposstavro1233]

3:40 I'M WHEEZING

[@FEARoperative]

Travel within USSR was not restricted. My mother traveled the entire Union with her parents by car in the 70s and 80s. It was tough to go out of the country but within it was ok. Also, foreigners were under scrutiny but at the same time we had stuff like David Bowie taking a train across the entire country with pretty much no problems. even though her didn't know Russian. And oh how I love, having grown up being ridiculed for liking a sport where no Russians participated and no race in Russia took place, to finally have a race and a driver only for them to be shat on by foreigners. I'll take Sochi over Abu Dhabi any day.

[@robertwismans5385]

All intros should be like this one.. big fan. Love me some text over Russian

[@ivaneurope]

After the USSR GP fell, another country from the Eastern Bloc attempted to lure Bernie's $$$. Around the same time Bulgaria also explored the possibility of hosting a Formula 1 GP race and the potential track was to be located in Sliven, some 300km southeast from the nation's capital of Sofia. But eventually all plans fell through. Bernie's choice of Hungary made sense as Hungary while being located on the edge of the Iron Curtain, it was also more liberal than other Eastern Bloc countries like Romania or Bulgaria

[@thedeamonmeteor69420]

I wouldn’t mind Russian gp being a borefest if it was called “Soviet Union GP”

[@unhingedgaming1586]

We get to hear our anthem when our driver wins a Race

[@yusransalampessy9548]

Everybody gangsta until the hard bass starts playing

[@rmx39]

‘Fell apart like bottas’s championship hopes after round 4’ fucking hell looooool

[@TigerofRobare]

Imagine a Lada or Trabant F1 car.

[@h_v_2835]

*WE* race as one

[@maxmustermann369]

4:51 seems like a good video idea to me. how could you realistically (taking money, soroundings etc. into account) improve sochi?

[@one_1111]

Ahh... Yes Soviet Russia. Home to the legends, Daniil 'Torpedo' Kvyat and Nkita Mazespin.

[@jeremiaas15]

Both born after the fall of Soviet Union.

[@spruchnummer-sr7cu]

Great video. Yeah, we Russians often think that Sochi is an awful track too. But the good thing is that when I was in Sochi, the whole circuit is quite pretty without that crap layout.

[@csd012]

That New York track resembles Albert Park Melbourne

[@Janfey]

2:54 This exact car is in museum in Latvia. I've seen it.

[@jeffodabear]

This video was gold.

[@AlexanderTrefz]

Damn that race calendar at :30 is so much better than anything we have now. Sure it still has crappy Monaco in it, and the American races aren’t great, but the rest is lit (dont know that Brazilian track tho)

[@AlexMiedemaFRL]

Very nice two-cabbed fire truck

[@b0zz1380y]

Good ol’ dj blyatman was a nice touch

[@craziej9566]

I wasn't the only one who noticed that!

[@b0zz1380y]

@@craziej9566 those who know dacha 44 know the blyat

[@ratchildf1]

"a man who is very famous for his eyebrows" damn, alonsos been racing for this long ?

[@potatogirlcultist19]

At the end, he kinda predicted the future. Bomb dropping did end the Sochi Grand Prix. The bombs just weren't dropped on the track unfortunately

[@siccodegroot8710]

That sochi joke at the end😂😂😂

[@nathanschafsnitz8860]

4:33 ouch

[@Mayoisglue]

4:35 dayummmm boom roasted

[@AssassinAgent]

I just came up with a great way to stop drivers from extending the track. Every car will have some added weight in the form of tsar bomba which will go off immediately after the car leaves track limits.

[@jasonshull3106]

Love your videos thanks again for the great work JDS in AZ usa.